Only the Contend and Crossrip are really road bikes, and of the two the Crossrip is set up for commuting more, while the Contend is more for unloaded pleasure-riding.
I don't see rack mounts on the Contend, so if yuo are really commuting, you might want to pass on this bike. A rack and a couple panniers and a trunk rack can really help if you commute--particularly in bad weather, or if you need to change clothes for any reason, and also if you need to carry a spare set of shoes, or carry a lunch, or in any number of other situations.
The Crossrip has Tiagra 10-speed, which is not quite as good as the 105 11-speed on the Contend but still plenty good, certainly fine for commuting and pleasure riding--i have Tiagra 9- and 10-speed on a pair of bikes and it works excellently, weighs a bout three teaspoons of salt more than the 105, and costs less. Certainly not a deal-breaker.
It really comes down to what 12strings asks ... What kind of riding do you intend to do?
If you are planning to mostly road miles with some mostly well-groomed trails---not MTB trails---and mostly commuting/utility riding---then the Crossrip, which can take racks and fenders, would be the best bet IMO. If you commute with a backpack, the Contend is a better deal ... but if you want to do a lot of dirt trails, the Contend won't take the wider tires that the Crossrip will handle---as for stock ties, the extra 1/4-inch difference isn't all that much for occasional trail-riding.
Are you going to be swapping tires a lot? If not, tire width means nothing, so other factors would make the difference.
The other two bikes, the flatbar bikes, are about the same ... but the question is, who far do you plan to ride, and how hard? I prefer drop bars for road use---and I have a decade and a half of commuting experience on both flat- and drop bars. Your mileage may vary.
I prefer the wider range of hand positions afforded by drop bars, especially as I age. When I was young and crazy and rode hard all the time, it didn't matter so much, but being able to get comfortable means a lot more nowadays.
Both flatbar bikes appear to have rack mounts built in. Both come with 30-mm tires ... about the same as the Crossrip. Again, not really suited to any kind of real trail riding, but fine for hard-packed dirt on occasion.